Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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458. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passports issued and the number of times where the ten-day turnaround was not met in 2014 and in 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44200/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service has issued 644,481 passports to date this year which represents an increase of over 15,000 from the 629,446 passports that were issued in 2014.

The ten day turnaround applies to those applications submitted in person at the Passport Offices in Dublin and Cork and through the An Post Passport Express service.

All applications which were submitted in person at the Passport Offices met the guideline turnaround times in 2014 and 2015.

Passport Express applications fall into two categories, renewals and first time applications. First time applications take longer to process than renewal applications as the Passport Service requires detailed documentation relating to identity and citizenship entitlement. In the case of a renewal the identity and citizenship of the applicant has normally already been firmly established.

There follows details of the average turnaround times on a monthly basis for applications submitted via the Passport Express service in 2014 and 2015 to date. The average annual turnaround time for renewals was 10.5 days last year. So far this year it is 9.3 days.

The Department stresses, including on passport application forms and on the website, that turnaround times are a guideline rather than a stated guarantee. For this reason we recommend that citizens apply at least six weeks in advance of any planned travel.